Notion's CEO on if AI is really killing software companies

Notion's CEO on if AI is really killing software companies

From ACCESS by Vox Media

February 19, 2026 · 1h 15m

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Notion's CEO Ivan Zhao about the impact of AI on software companies and the importance of becoming agent-friendly.

Ellis tells Alex about his storytelling speech for AI founders at Andreessen Horowitz, and they discuss how OpenAI beat Meta to hire the founder of OpenClaw. Then they’re joined by Notion co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao to talk about the rise of AI agents. They discuss building custom agents inside Notion, his own AI workflow, why he's focused on hiring young people, and why he thinks every software company needs to become agent-friendly to survive. Follow ACCESS on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Alex: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sources.news/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/alexeheath/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ellis: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://meaning.company/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/hamburger⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Ellis, Alex

Guest: Ivan Zhao

Topics covered

  • AI
  • software companies
  • Notion
  • AI agents
  • technology
  • business

Keywords

  • AI
  • software
  • Notion
  • Ivan Zhao
  • agents
  • technology
  • business

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OpenAI, Meta, OpenClaw, Notion, Andreessen Horowitz, Vox Media

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